ALBANY - Men's Soccer players Samir Filho (Boituva, Brazil/Colégio Adventista Terra Mater Finance/Saint Rose) and Zachary Bischoff (Panama City, FL/J.R. Arnold) are two of the three students that will represent the Russell Sage College School of Management at the Northeast Intercollegiate Sales Competition hosted by Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, on November 14 and 15, 2025.

The competition includes a Role Play category, where the students lead a 10-minute sales meeting with a fictional company, and a Speed Sell category, where they deliver a 60-second elevator pitch to a hiring manager.

Business majors Bischoff, Filho, and Riley Montanye will compete in both categories, with Filho also slated to compete in the English and Spanish Speed Sell divisions.

The students are being coached by Associate Professor of Management John Dion, a former executive at LEGO Group and Bose, and Adjunct Professor Kristen Delaney, a former executive at iHeartMedia.

"This is an exciting opportunity for our students," said Dion, "and shows the School of Management's meaningful co-curricular activities."

Filho is taking Business Strategy with Dion and Professional Selling with Delaney, and became interested in the competition after both professors talked about it in their classes.

Employers attend, said Filho, making it like a job fair. "That's what attracted me, the opportunity to meet new people, a new challenge. I want to gain expertise from it."

Competitors receive substantial background materials for the Role Play category, including specifications for an app called SpotLogic that they are selling, and detailed background information about the client company and its representatives. The goal is to advance through four rounds of increasingly challenging sales meetings with company representatives, and the students and professors have been meeting twice a week to prepare.

"We are doing role plays with the professors, they're giving us feedback," Filho said. "We're going through the material about the product that we're selling and what we're expected to know and do."

He's also applying what he's learned in class, including advice from a guest in Professional Selling.

"You have all these strategies," he said, "You have to mirror the person, the tone you use, the words you use. That's part of professional selling."

And he credits classes that have required him to attend job fairs and networking events, which have helped him become more comfortable striking up conversations — a skill that will be critical at the sales competition.

The whole experience directly translates to his job search, added Filho, who will graduate in 2026 and is seeking professional roles that align with his long-term goal of becoming a chief financial officer and business investor.

"To get a job, you need to go through an interview. And nobody likes interviews. But doing the role play helps you understand what is expected in an interview. You're getting comfortable with the uncomfortable and that helps a lot. And our professors give us feedback all the time."

After several weeks of preparation, Filho is confident about the competition.

"I'm so excited for it," he said.